Fifteen States Sue Trump Administration Over Arctic Drilling PlansPA Images
Fifteen US States are suing the Trump Administration over its Arctic Drilling Plans.
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In 2017, Congress mandated that the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge be opened to oil and gas activity as part of its Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
Last month, the administration announced its plans for the drilling, more than three years after the law was passed. The Trump administration’s 2017 law required the department to hold two lease sales in the refuge by 2024, despite the refuge being closed to oil exploration since 1980.
Trump Participates in a Signing Ceremony for the Great American Outdoors ActPA Images
Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said in an announcement on August 17 that the plans ‘mark ‘a new chapter in American energy independence’ and predicted they could ‘create thousands of new jobs’. Bernhardt added that the drilling could be conducted in an environmentally sound manner, and that Congress has set details into law that will help them withstand challenges from environmentalists.
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The drilling announcement sparked outrage when it was initially signed in 2017 – and the outrage has continued with 15 states now suing over the drilling plans.
As per CNN, the states of Washington, Massachusetts, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont brought the lawsuit against the bureau yesterday, September 9.
Donald TrumpPA Images
The states’ attorneys general wrote in a filing, ‘Defendants’ insufficient environmental review and Record of Decision that opens the entire Coastal Plain to oil and gas leasing and development are unlawful.’
Part of the lawsuit read:
Defendants’ actions severely underestimate the avoidable and irreparable damage to vital habitat and pristine waters, imperil wildlife already struggling to thrive in a rapidly changing ecosystem, and increase greenhouse gas emissions at a time when our nation and the world drastically need to reduce emissions to mitigate the most extreme harms of climate change.
The Interior Department has since responded to the lawsuit dubbing it ‘politically motivated’; the department’s recent announcement came just before Joe Biden is set to accept the Democratic presidential nomination this week, with Biden having previously called for a ban on new oil and gas permits on public lands.
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Spokesman Conner Swanson said to CNN:
This is a congressionally mandated energy development program that leaves ninety-two percent of the refuge completely off-limits to development. The lawsuit is politically motivated and meritless, and we will see them in court.
The plans come after years of potentially environmentally damaging actions have been taken by the Trump Administration. Since the Tax Cuts and Job Act was signed, Trump has also pulled out of the Paris climate accords and rolled back regulations on carbon emission standards for coal-fired power plants.
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